Dorian
Dorian is a Slavic language spoken by the Dorian peoples in the country of Dora. Although it is related to common Slavic languages such as Russian or Bulgarian, Dorian is different in its grammar and phonology. Dorian is known by its neighbors to be a very odd language, partly because the phoneme /ʃ/, which occurs very often in words. Classification and Dialects Dorian is one of the Anigarsko-Dorian languages, one branch of the Martino-Dorian languages spoken in the confederate state Martinia. Its ancestor was the first language to break from the common language of all Martion-Dorian languages, Proto-Martino-Dorian, and because of its proximity to Saanaimaa, a country which speaks the Uralic Saanain, it has engaged in two-way exchange with Saanain, resulting in many Uralic loanwords in Dorian and Dorian loanwords in Saanain. Phonology Consonants Vowels Phonotactics Writing System Dorian uses the Cyrillic alphabet. *Because there is not enough space to fit all variations of these letters, they are shown in the section below. Vowels with Diacritics The vowels a'', ''e, i'', and ''o ''have four forms, three of which are with diaereses. The second form of these vowels is the vowel with a macron above (ā ē ī ō) which shows that the vowel is stressed in a word. For example, the word '''oчшī '(/ɔ'tʃi/), meaning "let go!", must be written with the macron above i'', showing that the stress falls on the syllable containing ''i. The third form is the vowel with a tilde above (ã ẽ ĩ õ) which shows that the vowel is pronounced long. For exampe, the word гpẽг '(/ɣpɛːɟ/), meaning "wrong", must be written with the tilde in order to not be confused with the similar 'гpeг, meaning "he burns". Any two adjacent vowels that are the same must be combined into that vowel with a tilde unless one of the vowels has a tilde already, one of the vowels has a macron, or one of the vowels has an accent. The fourth form is the vowel with an accent above (á é í ó) which shows that the vowel is to be pronounced "shallow" rather than "deep". This means that /a/, /ɛ/, /i/, /ɔ/, are moved backwards, resulting in /ɐ/, /ʌ/, /ɨ/, /ɤ/, respectively. For example, this is how the word мeзē (/mɛ'zɛ/), a Bulgarian loan meaning "food eaten with alcohol", is distinguished from мéзé '(/mʌ'sʌ/), the first person reflexive pronoun. In all cases, vowels after ''г and x ''become shallow vowels. This is always marked. Furthermore, the word 'мoждĩ '(/mɔʒ'diː/), "powers", is distinguished from 'мóждĩ '(/mɤʒ'diː/), "a dream", 'мóждī '(/mɤʒ'di/), "dream!", and 'мoждī '(/mɔʒ'di/), "control!" Grammar Nouns Nouns are declined for case, gender, and number. There are six cases, the nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, vocative, and locative. There are three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter. Finally, there are two numbers, singular and plural, though in some cases, the dual case (as a remnant of Proto-Martino-Dorian) has been fossilized. Cases The six endings for the cases in the first declension are: # nominative: zero ending. Examples include 'бopp, storm; мóждĩ,' '''a dream. # accusative: zero ending. Examples are the above. # dative: ending ''-y ''(u), ''-ю (yu) after vowels. Examples include бoppy, to the storm; мóждĩю, to the dream. # genitive: ending ''-oг'' (oh) after consonants and single vowels; ''-г'' (h) after diphthongs. Examples include бoppoг, of the storm; тiēг, their. # vocative: ending ''-iy'' (iu) after consonants and single vowels except for г'' and ''x; ''-íy'' (íu) after diphthongs and г'' and ''x. Examples include бoppiy, oh storm; пaлiāíy, oh stick. # locative: ending -''aв'' (av) after consonants; -''в'' (v) after vowels. Examples include [ ] бoppaв, preposition the storm; [ ] yнєв, preposition them. Genders There are three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter. Masculine nouns always end in consonants or low vowels (o'', ''y). Examples are бopp 'and 'гpẽг. Feminine nouns always end in vowels except for é'', ''e and ó''. Examples are 'мóждĩ and '''вyльā. Neuter nouns always end in either é, e or ó''. An example is 'вcзe'. Number There are two numbers, singular and plural. Singular nouns do not have any endings. Examples are 'вyльā and '''бopp. Plural nouns end in ''-i''. If the singular form of the noun ends in ''-i '' as well, following the rules for the tilde, the ending will be ''-ĩ''. However, words like мóждĩ 'already have a long vowel on the end, so the ending becomes ''-я. Also, for nouns ending in vowels, the final vowel is removed (except for i'', ''ī and ĩ'') and ''-i is added. Examples are 'бopp '> '''бoppi, cepi '''> '''cepĩ, мóждĩ '> 'мóждĩя, and вyльā '> 'вyльī. Some nouns have irregular plurals, like кoң''' > '''кoңя. Declensions Nouns follow three declension patterns based on their gender. These declensions differ in their endings for case and number. First Declension The first declension is for masculine nouns. Second Declension The second declension is for feminine nouns with some neuter nouns Third Declension The third declension is for neuter nouns. Pronouns Personal Pronouns Demonstrative Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Possessive pronouns are not changed to reflect the gender or the number of the possessed object. The object is always a neuter object in the pronoun, though it can be any gender. Reflexive Pronouns In most cases, reflexives are indicated by the reflexive pronouns in the table below. Verbs Verbs conjugate according to voice, person, tense, and number.There is no infinitive in the Dorian verb system, just like in all other Martino-Dorian languages, which have inherited this innovation from Proto-Martino-Dorian. Present Tense The present tense changes based on the consonant or vowel with which the verb stem ends. Present I Present Tense I is used when the verb stem ends with a vowel. *''V shows that the final vowel of the verb stem is stressed. 'вaдa-''' *The -V symbol means that the conjugation is the same as the final vowel but stressed. Present II Present Tense II is used when the verb stem ends in any consonant other than x'' or ''г. *Unless the stress is somewhere else in the verb. 'óбе̄iч-' Present III Present Tense III is used when the verb stem ends with x'' or ''г. 'пyx-' Imperfect Tense The imperfect tense roughly corresponds to the past tense in English. Imperfect I 'вaдa-' Syntax Lexicon Example text Category:Languages